TAKEN: The German wreck looters were arrested while on their way out of Norway. Photo: The police
The 35-year-old German policeman was involved in looting German aircraft wreckage in northern Norway. Now he has been fired from his job by a German court.
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A 35-year-old German policeman has been fired from his job after taking part in looting German aircraft wreckage in northern Norway. The participants in the looting spree had links to far-right circles. The policeman, together with five other Germans, was charged in 2022 for theft of wreckage parts and cabin burglary. Show more
The investigation in Germany showed that the policeman, who was also involved in a cabin break-in in Nordland, had close links to a neo-Nazi group.
According to the German newspaper Bild the policeman’s neo-Nazi affiliation was revealed when they investigated the supposed ringleader of the wreck looters. In a WhatsApp group, the looters exchanged nationalist and anti-Semitic slogans.
A court in Hannover concluded that the 35-year-old’s actions are not acceptable for a police officer.
In court, the policeman denied that he is a right-wing extremist, and claimed that he joined the looting spree in Norway because he felt threatened by the other participants. Something the judge did not trust.
Arrested in Norway
In 2022, the policeman was fined NOK 8,000 for stealing parts from a number of German plane wrecks, and for breaking into a cabin while they were supplying themselves with the wreckage.
– It didn’t look like there. It was a lot of work to get the crap out of them, the cabin owner told VG in 2022.
In Norway, the dismissal of the policeman was first mentioned by the historical Facebook page Solheim’s barracks and the newspaper Forwards.
POWERFUL HACK: The wreck looters greedily supplied themselves with the plane wreckage they found in northern Norway. Photo: The police
VG mentioned in a major report last year how a group of German citizens with links to right-wing extremist circles have been looting German aircraft wreckage in northern Norway for several years.
In 2022, six Germans were charged with stealing wreckage from several planes in Nordland and Troms. Several of them were also involved in cottage burglaries.
Thoroughly prepared
The van belonging to the Germans was loaded to the brim with wreckage when the Norwegian police stopped them on Bjørnfjell in Nordland three years ago, on their way to the Swedish border.
On the roof were side rudders and tail surfaces from a Messerschmitt. In the car were wing surfaces from a Heinkel bomber, bomb racks from a Heinkel or Junkers, and a number of parts from engines, rudders, wings and propellers, in addition to small parts such as electrical switches and connectors and seat belt buckles.
Even more were found in the forest near the German camp outside Narvik.
WELL EQUIPPED: The German wreck looters had planned the robbery thoroughly. Photo: The police
The German wreck looters had been well prepared. In the car, the police found angle grinders, a metal detector, shovels, a hacksaw and lots of other tools, as well as a GPS, inflatable boat, outboard motor and wetsuits.
In their car, the police found printouts of maps and books about the fighting in northern Norway.
Far-right environments
Several of the young Germans had connections to extreme right-wing circles.
The alleged ringleader, a now 24-year-old student from Bavaria, was sentenced in a German court in December 2020 to a one-year suspended youth prison for the possession and sale of weapons and illegal Nazi effects. In the past, the man has also been convicted twice for breaching the Weapons Act and the Explosives Act.
FREQUENT GUEST: The supposed ringleader has visited a number of German plane wrecks around northern Norway. Photo: Screenshot Instagram
On social media, he has paid tribute to former German Nazi soldiers and pilots for their efforts during World War II.
In front of VG, the supposed ringleader claimed in 2022 that the plane wreckage in northern Norway was German property, which the Norwegian authorities firmly reject.
Another of the participants in the looting spree was a German local politician for the right-wing populist party AfD – Alternativ für Deutschland.
In the name of the Driver
At the wreckage of a bomber in Gratangen, the Germans left a very special message, with the name and date of the visit. Translated from German, the greeting read:
“On the morning of the 20th day of the 8th month of the year 2020, a mixed battle group of Wehrmacht units and Waffen-DPC reached this wreck and took it into the possession of the Commander and the Reich.”
Traces in social media showed that the Germans have been on a looting spree in Norway for several years.
The market for wreckage from warplanes is large, and at the top of the price list are German warplanes.
VALUABLE: Wreckage of German warplanes can be extremely valuable. This Focke Wulf 190 was raised from the sea outside Sotra in 2006. Photo: Marit Hommedal / NTB
The Narvik area was the scene of some of the fiercest battles on Norwegian soil during the Second World War.
In front of VG, the head of culture in Salangen municipality, Kurt Jan Kvernmo, referred to the Germans’ actions as vandalism:
– I think it is absolutely terrible that someone should make money from taking something that should be where it belongs – where the actions took place, Kvernmo said in 2022.
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Published: 17.10.23 at 12:56 p.m
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2023-10-17 10:56:57
#German #policeman #fired #looting #plane #wreckage #Norway
